Invitational content items such as online banner advertisements are becoming a much more common form of advertisement because they allow users to immediately interact with the advertisement to view more information regarding an advertised product. These types of invitational content items are often priced based on how many times the invitational content item is selected. For example, an advertiser can be charged a set price for each click the advertiser's online banner advertisement receives. While selection of the invitational content item is a common metric used in pricing, studies have indicated that a significant proportion of these selections are, in fact, accidental selections by a user.
Moreover, the problem of accidental selection is thought to be even greater when invitational content items are presented on the smaller screens of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, etc. In addition to smaller screens that can cause accidental selections, smaller devices are also more likely to be subjected to random perturbations due to being carried in a user's hand, pocket, etc., which can lead to additional accidental selections.
The problem of accidental selections is further exacerbated by less reputable publishers that may actually attempt to make it easier for users to accidentally select an invitational content item by crowding the invitational content item as closely as possible to other widely selected areas or otherwise confusing the user. Accidental selection of content items is not desirable for the advertisers that must pay for each accidental selection. Advertisers would prefer a true gauge of user interest and the knowledge that their advertisement dollars are being spent as much as possible on real interactions with their target audience, rather than accidental selections.